Bryan and Liz would be what you'd think of a typical older couple. College sweethearts that quickly married after graduation. They were excited to start their lives together, and like most newlyweds, spent plenty of time in the bedroom learning the 'ins and outs' of their nubile bodies. But like for most couples, life started to set priorities that would get in the way of those sexual pursuits. New careers, promotions, having and raising their children, buying bigger houses and dealing with the occasional body blows of life, slowed them down. No major medical scares, but a knee surgery here and shoulder surgery there would help to provide enough aches and pains to bring their sex life down to a crawl by the time they made it to their upper 50's. They still loved each other, and had been true to each other through thick and thin. It was just that now, they had settled into a schedule that would fill the void of intimacy with other distractions.
Liz had her Book Clubs, Bunco and Bridge Groups. She also had a very playful little dog that took much of her time. Bryan was still working full time and would come home and rest by reading or playing a few solitaire games on his computer. They still took trips together. They each loved good food and drink and would often plan trips around an event like a wine and food pairing. Sometimes they would even manage to have a little spark of a love life at times on those trips. Most of the time those sparks would entail some sort of blue pill.
Once the pandemic hit, everyone including Bryan and Liz were confined to small social bubbles. Travel was out of the question. Bryan and Liz's world got even smaller. Their new grandkid's daycare was closed and they decided they would help pick up the slack. There's a reason you have kids when you are young. The new grandparents were always exhausted. Time was flying by and their bedroom was nearly dead.
After the months of lockdown, things began to open up again. Luckily, neither of them were affected by the virus. The daycare reopened and the demands on them were less. Bryan went back to his job in the office. They were slowly recuperating from the toll of childcare.
One Friday evening after dinner, Bryan and Liz were watching a TV show when Liz piped up. "Bryan, we need to start going out again. It's going to be Christmas soon and I haven't done any shopping."
"Why don't you just shop online?" Bryan grunted. He was not really paying much attention and the thought of dragging himself through department stores was akin to torture.
"It's so impersonal!" shouted Liz back at him. "We've been cooped up for so long. I don't want to have another 'on-line Christmas'. I want to get back to having a life and seeing new things!"
"Ok, Ok. What do you suggest?" asked Bryan. He had clearly gotten the memo that a 'happy wife makes a happy life'. This wasn't going to be a hill he would die on.
'Well," said Liz. "There's a Christmas Craft Show this weekend and next at the county fairgrounds. It should be pretty big. I'd love to go and stroll through the booths and look at the crafts. We aren't doing anything tomorrow. Why don't we go for the afternoon?"
"Ok I guess," replied Bryan. "I was going to do some yard work and rake some leaves, but fall is pretty much over. As long as I can get it done before the first snow, I'll be fine."
"Well, I'm sorry I have to pull you away from your beloved yard work just to come out with me!" Liz complained.
"Give me a break, honey," Bryan snipped back. "I said I'd go. What more do you want?" This conversation had definitely gotten off on the wrong foot.
Liz decided to just bury her frustration at this point. They were going. Maybe he'd feel better about it tomorrow. They spent the rest of the evening barely interacting at all.
--
About 10 the next morning, Bryan started up the car in the garage. Liz slipped into the passenger seat. She had been texting back and forth with her sister over the latest catastrophe with her sister's family. 'It was always something,' Bryan thought to himself. They pulled out of their driveway and headed out for the 45 minute drive to the fairgrounds. It was a bright and sunny day and the temperature was warm enough to get away with a light jacket. At least he wouldn't have to fight the traffic or the elements.
The constant 'ding' of Liz's cell phone was annoying at best. "Sure would be nice if your sister could get through at least one weekend without having a major meltdown," Bryan said sarcastically. Liz only shot him a dirty look. Bryan turned back to his driving.
They finally pulled into the driveway for the fairground. "$20 per car to park?! That's highway robbery! We won't have enough money left to buy a single Christmas cookie!" Bryan complained.
"OK Ebenezer Scrooge!" Liz mocked. "How am I supposed to get into the Christmas spirit if you're going to complain the entire time!"
"Sorry, just a little shocked at the price," said Bryan. "It's been what? 3 years since we've been here?"
"I guess you're right," Liz said as they stepped out of the car. "Ummm...I remember this show being a lot bigger." They looked over the fairgrounds. Many of the booths that they may have visited in the past weren't there. Not even the German Strudel tent, which was the only place Bryan was actually interested in hitting up. The number of craftsmen selling their wares seemed to be about half than in years past.
"I guess the pandemic's played havoc with this event too," said Bryan. He looked around. The Christmas decorations seemed old and worn and some were half-heartedly hung. There weren't many people there, and the weather was far too warm for the hot cocoa stand. The loudspeaker was playing out a crackly version of 'Grandma got run over by a Reindeer'. Bryan and Liz just stood and stared at each other. "So much for the Christmas spirit," Bryan sighed.
"Well, we're here, so let's just go in," said Liz in a dejected tone. They began to peruse the booths in the first building. Although there were a few decent craft booths, many of the booths seemed to be more like a flea market than a craft show. Bryan was beginning to think that the $20 parking fee was a real rip off. They'd be hard pressed to even stay one hour.
Liz only managed to find one booth that she bought anything at, and it was just a Christmas sweater for her dog. The only other things they bought were some cheese spreads and some Christmas cookies. This show was a real bomb.
"Why don't you sample some of the local winery booths?" Liz asked Bryan, trying to salvage what she could out of the outing.
"You know I hate the local wines," Bryan replied. Bryan was a bit of a wine snob. He loved the California Cabernets and Oregon Pinots. The red wines on the east coast just didn't measure up. Liz on the other hand was all about anything sweet. Be it a mixed drink or a sweet wine. Bryan always referred to the wines she liked as 'grape juice'. He passed on all the wine booths they saw.
Bryan and Liz reached the last building. This show had really been a dud. They had sampled some sauces and one of them was hotter than they would have liked. Liz needed a drink. They rounded the back corner and happened upon a very small wine booth that was sampling. There wasn't anyone else around, so Liz said, "Let's just sample the wine over here, I need to put out the fire from that sauce."
Ann introduced herself as the winemaker. She was an older lady, probably in her late sixties. She was dressed in a tie-dye wraparound skirt and blouse, big rimmed rose colored glasses, long beads around her neck and open toed sandals. It all screamed 1970s hippie. Her wines were all fruit wines, apple, pear, blackberry and the like. All were going to be sweet.
The wines were just fine for Liz. Bryan on the other hand, well, he decided he'd play along. He'd had a lot of success in the past chatting up the winemakers and getting extra big pours. He was polite and acted interested in Ann's winemaking story.
"I've just started making enough of my wines to sell," related Ann. "Previously I was just making enough for my family and friends. They all really liked my wines and urged me to take the next step. This first wine is an apple cinnamon wine. I call it 'Warm Spice'. It goes well with the season." Bryan and Liz sipped. Liz liked it of course. Bryan wasn't moved.
They continued to sip through her short list of wines. Bryan was hoping that Liz had at least quenched the fire in her throat and maybe they could get away with little or no damage to his wallet. The last wine on the list was some sort of cranberry-honey-huckleberry concoction.
"This next wine is my favorite. Both for me and my husband," continued Ann. "It's a special process, much more complicated. Found the process in an old historic tome from medieval times. It's more expensive because it's so much harder to make. Funny thing was, the people that taste tested it for me would only report back that the wine brought them joy. So I just went with that for the name, Joy."
Liz took the first sip. It was cool and sweet on her lips. Refreshing. The ride down her throat brought some warmth she didn't expect, but was pleasant. "Not bad at all!" she said.
Bryan took his first sip. Yep, just as he suspected, it was overpriced Kool-Aid. He took the last sip from his little tasting cup and swirled and swished it around his tongue. The little fruit potion seemed to evolve and change as it circled his tongue. It surprised him a little, something he didn't expect from a local wine. "Hmmmm...Interesting...Old process eh? Ok...I'll bite, I'll take a bottle of Joy".
As Bryan was buying the bottle, Liz drank down her last sip. The warmth was even more intense this time. She looked at the cup, then looked up at her husband. She smiled at him as he turned to her with the bag and receipt. She felt the need to come up to him and kiss him on the cheek. She attempted to, but they only managed to clumsily bump into each other and her peck landed on his ear instead.
"Oh, I'm sorry babe," Bryan said as he bumped into his wife. He reached out with his free arm around her hips to steady her. He noticed that her body felt warm to the touch. For some reason his mind began to drift. He thought about all the times in the past he had held his wife, her warm body next to his, perfume filling his nostrils.
"Thanks, I hope you enjoy your wine!", the winemaker said, bringing Bryan back to consciousness. "If you want any more, I'll be here next week as well."
"Thank you," both Liz and Bryan repeated, hanging on to this embrace a few seconds longer than they normally did these days. They turned and headed toward the exit.
They held hands walking back to the car. "I'm sorry this show was such a disappointment," Liz lamented. "I wouldn't have made you take me all the way out here if I had known."
"It's not your fault at all Liz," Bryan replied. "Besides, you were right, it's been too long. I enjoyed showing everyone the sexy woman on my arm."
Liz blushed. His compliment sent a small tingle up her spine. She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled. Bryan drove all the way home with his hand on her thigh.
